Draft Trainer

Core Set 2021 Limited Quiz

Answered: 0/20
Accuracy: 0
Temple of Triumph
Average Picked At: 6.00
Total Times Picked: 1
Average Last Seen At: 2.67
Total Times Seen 3
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This fix for you and help you smooth out your draws, so they can really play a key role in helping smooth out the beginning of your game. If they are in both your colors you should value them over most medium cards, and if you’re interested in splashing you should value them even more.
Glorious Anthem
Average Picked At: 5.00
Total Times Picked: 2
Average Last Seen At: 3.50
Total Times Seen 4
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: This type of card can be frustrating sometimes, because you get it on a board where you just don’t have much of a presence, but the effect offered by the anthem is pretty powerful, and does impact the board immediately in most cases, enabling attacks that weren’t possible before you played it. You do need to be a heavy creature deck, and going pretty wide to really take advantage of it, but that doesn’t look to be a problem in White decks in this format.
Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge
Average Picked At: 1.00
Total Times Picked: 1
Average Last Seen At: 1.00
Total Times Seen 3
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: So, the fail case here is a 3-mana 5/4 Flyer with Defender -- that’s actually a kind of reasonable card in Limited. It can lock down lots of creatures for a reasonable investment. Making a treasure token at your end step for every nontoken creature that died during your turn is pretty nice -- it gives you a solid source of fixing and ramp, something Red doesn’t always have access to. In addition to that, if you have enough artifacts -- which Treasure tokens are -- Gadrak can start attacking, and that will be pretty sweet. Keep in mind, you can play this after a particularly messy combat, you may find yourself making a ton of treasure. Most of the time, it is probably reasonable to expect he makes you one treasure on a given turn -- but that’s still pretty nice.
Spined Megalodon
Average Picked At: 9.70
Total Times Picked: 10
Average Last Seen At: 6.02
Total Times Seen 80
Pro Rating: 1.5 // 2.5
Pro Comment: Big hexproof guys like this usually can find a place in Limited. They are at their best in more controlling decks, as it provides a large Blocker who your opponent just can’t interact with. Hexproof creatures also tend to be good places to put Auras, since getting 2-for-1’d when you put it on a hexproof creature is so unlikely. It is a nice bit of additional value that this Scries when you attack with it, too. UB Reanimator is a very real deck in this format, and this is one of the Commons that you’re pretty happy to play there.
Opt
Average Picked At: 6.18
Total Times Picked: 11
Average Last Seen At: 6.22
Total Times Seen 79
Pro Rating: 2.0
Pro Comment: This is always pretty decent, especially in formats that have spell payoffs, and this one does.
Valorous Steed
Average Picked At: 7.29
Total Times Picked: 7
Average Last Seen At: 5.91
Total Times Seen 77
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This is a nice Common. 5-mana for 5/5 worth of Vigilance stats across two bodies is a nice deal, especially in a format with some nice go-wide payoffs. You probably don’t want more than two of these since they cost 5, but it will do some nice work for you in any deck.
Kinetic Augur
Average Picked At: 5.67
Total Times Picked: 6
Average Last Seen At: 5.22
Total Times Seen 36
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This gives you some nice card selection and in a spell deck can often actually represent a pretty real threat, too. It is a little bit awkward alongside the UR signpost, which returns instants or sorceries to your hand, which is a bit of a nonbo alongside the Augur, but I still like it.
Discontinuity
Pro Rating: 1.5
Pro Comment: This card is too inconsistent to be really good. You can use something like this a few different ways -- the ideal way is to use it as sort of a reverse time walk -- to use it on your opponent’s turn to make them skip their whole turn. Sometimes, waiting to cast it in response to them doing something is even better, because it will just remove whatever it is from teh stack, effectively countering it and ending their turn. You normally don’t want to be using these on your own turn since you would like to have your whole turn, but this offers some extra incentive to do it -- namely that it only costs TWO mana if you use it on your turn. So when do you do that? Well, it can effectively be a counterspell on your turn -- the most ideal way to use it in that case is probably in response to removal at the end of your turn, since it again -- is effectively countered. Having to use this earlier in your turn can be a real pain, but sometimes it will be worth doing. So, this sort of has two modes, basically -- one where it effectively gives you an extra turn, and another where you can use it as a pseudo-counterspell. How does all of that add up? Well, not amazingly. You’ve gotta have that mana up at the right time, and not adding to the board is rough.
Speaker of the Heavens
Average Picked At: 15.00
Total Times Picked: 0
Average Last Seen At: 2.00
Total Times Seen 5
Pro Rating: 1.0 // 3.0
Pro Comment: So, let’s look at this on the French Vanilla test first -- how good is a one mana 1/1 with Vigilance and Lifelink in a set that has a reasonable number of +1/+1 counters? It is probably kind of ok, something that will make the cut about half the time. But, if your deck is SUPER good at gaining life, this becomes a very real threat, since churning out 4/4 angels is no joke. Even if you can only get a single Angel out of this, you’re more than getting your mana’s worth -- but gaining 7 in a single turn, even in a format with a lifegain archetype -- is going to be a challenge. You have to really get there on life gain for that to ever happen, and I don’ think you should count on it. Now, if you are in a BW deck that can gain some life, even if 7 seems far-fetched, it is probably worth running this guy, just because you might pull it off a couple of times. But I think that, even in a life gain deck that really gets there, it will be kind of hard to achieve.
Fierce Empath
Average Picked At: 9.00
Total Times Picked: 1
Average Last Seen At: 5.33
Total Times Seen 17
Pro Rating: 2.0
Pro Comment: So, to some extent, we can compare this to Elvish Visionary, a card that is always a solid Limited playable. The Visionary is a two mana 1/1 that draws you a card -- the Empath is a 3-mana 1/1 that draws you a card. Obviously the main difference there is that the Visionary draws you a random card from your deck, while the Empath searches up a big ol’ creature. Additionally, there are some real pros and cons there -- with the Empath, if you don’t have something to find, you’re going to be really sad with what you have -- while the Visionary always does something, but it isn’t guaranteed to draw you a big creature the way the Empath is. So, where does the Empath fall with all that said? Well, I think most Green decks will have 3 or so targets for this, and if that’s the case, the Empath is a solid playable. Grabbing your best big creature with this is going to feel good a lot of the time -- I mean, that’s often what you’re hoping you draw with extra draws in the late game anyway, right? But the downsides of the card do keep it from being more than just a solid playable for me.
Hellkite Punisher
Average Picked At: 5.67
Total Times Picked: 3
Average Last Seen At: 4.56
Total Times Seen 20
Pro Rating: 2.0
Pro Comment: This is a big ol’ dragon, and it is going to be an alright finisher for some decks. Costing 7 and not doing SOMETHING that allows it to leave value behind even if it dies is pretty rough though, and there are going to be some big swings in games where one player sticks this and can swing for 10+ the next turn -- but if the opponent has any removal at all, the player who played the Punisher is going to be in a world of hurt because of the tempo.
Temple of Mystery
Average Picked At: 15.00
Total Times Picked: 0
Average Last Seen At: 2.67
Total Times Seen 3
Pro Rating: 3.0
Pro Comment: This fix for you and help you smooth out your draws, so they can really play a key role in helping smooth out the beginning of your game. If they are in both your colors you should value them over most medium cards, and if you’re interested in splashing you should value them even more.
Scavenging Ooze
Average Picked At: 1.80
Total Times Picked: 5
Average Last Seen At: 1.67
Total Times Seen 9
Pro Rating: 4.5
Pro Comment: This is a two-mana 2/2 with all kinds of upside. Sure, it needs graveyards to feed on, so it won’t always be able to get big in the early game, but graveyards will end up with cards in them one way or another, and the Ooze’s ability to grow larger, disrupt graveyard strategies, and even gain you life is very powerful. It results in a 2-drop that is not only relevant all game long, but is the best creature on the board all game long in many cases.
Tranquil Cove
Average Picked At: 11.33
Total Times Picked: 6
Average Last Seen At: 7.23
Total Times Seen 60
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: This give you nice fixing and even gain you some life! You should value these over most medium cards if they are in your color or you’re interested in fixing.
Seasoned Hallowblade
Average Picked At: 3.14
Total Times Picked: 7
Average Last Seen At: 2.79
Total Times Seen 24
Pro Rating: 4.0
Pro Comment: While he isn’t quite as good as Adanto Vanguard, I think the comparison is warranted. Both are great attackers all game long thanks to their ability to become indestructible, and both can even be effective blockers all game long -- if that’s what you need -- because of the ability. Discarding a card is a hefty cost for sure, but generally you’ll be doing it to trade with something of your opponent’s -- whether a creature in combat or a removal spell -- so going down the card isn’t as brutal as it sounds. The fact he has to tap down to become indestructible does mean that your opponent’s removal spells will at least make it tap, and that might be frustrating, but still -- a two-drop that attacks all game long is great. Even just the threat of activation means your opponent will be taking three to the face a lot with this!
Solemn Simulacrum
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: The Simulacrum is usually going to get you a 3-for-1, and that’s pretty great. He gets you a land -- which both fixes and ramps you -- and he draws a card when he dies. Provided you can trade him for something, you’re going to feel pretty great. I also love colorless fixing in Limited, and this is an excellent example of that. He isn’t going to win you the game outright or anything, but the value Solemn Simulacrum can give you is amazing.
Llanowar Visionary
Average Picked At: 3.05
Total Times Picked: 22
Average Last Seen At: 2.92
Total Times Seen 42
Pro Rating: 3.5
Pro Comment: Wow, this is a strong common. If you just had a 3-mana 2/2 that tapped for Green, it would be solid -- if you just had a 3-mana 2/2 that drew you a card when it entered the battlefield, it would be pretty good. This card is basically Llanowar Elves and Elvish Visionary stapled together -- in terms of the name and the effects. So, this ramps you, and can also pretty easily give you a 2-for-1 because of the card it draws.
Feline Sovereign
Average Picked At: 6.50
Total Times Picked: 2
Average Last Seen At: 3.73
Total Times Seen 17
Pro Rating: 2.5
Pro Comment: There are enough Cats and Dogs in this set that Feline Sovereign’s first static ability will have a very real impact on some board states. Even on its own, the Sovereign represents a 3-mana ⅔ who can blow up artifact or enchantments when it hits the opponent, and that is decent. If your deck even has 3 or 4 other cats, the Sovereign will perform better than that, and I don’t think it is far-fetched to think that will happen.
Liliana's Steward
Average Picked At: 13.50
Total Times Picked: 6
Average Last Seen At: 8.91
Total Times Seen 113
Pro Rating: 1.0
Pro Comment: I don’t like this very much. Sure, it is a one drop that can kind of stay relevant all game, but its relevance is basically always very small. A one mana ½ is quickly outclassed in Limited, and giving this up to make your opponent discard a card of their choice doesn’t seem great to me either.
Burn Bright
Average Picked At: 12.14
Total Times Picked: 7
Average Last Seen At: 8.53
Total Times Seen 117
Pro Rating: 1.0
Pro Comment: I never love this kind of mass pump effect in Limited. I like to get a toughness boost too, because that makes it far more flexible. If your creature was dead when your opponent blocked, it still will be even if you use this, and that means that this is really only worthwhile when you can do straight up lethal, really limiting its prospects.
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